The results have been mixed since Terry Ryan returned to the Twins' general manager's role on Nov. 7, 2011:

THREE DECISIONS THAT WORKED

1. Drafting Byron Buxton: Sure, this was the No. 2 overall draft pick, and teams aren't supposed to botch those -- yet plenty have. Desperate for young power pitching, the Twins nevertheless passed on college right-handers Kevin Gausman (LSU) and Mark Appel (Stanford) to take a raw-but-gifted high school center fielder from rural Georgia. Buxton signed for $6 million, the largest bonus in Twins history, and this year became the youngest player since Andruw Jones in 1996 to win Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.

2. Extending Glen Perkins: The left-hander had two career saves and one solid season as a big-league reliever when the Twins signed him in March 2012 to a deal that keeps him under club control through 2016. Four months later, the former starter took over as the full-time closer, and this season became a first-time all-star at age 30. With heat in the high-90s, 36 saves and a 2.30 ERA, he made under $3 million this season, and is owed just under $4 million in 2014.

3. Signing Kevin Correia: Plenty questioned Ryan when he gave $10 million over two years to a 32-year-old right-hander with average stuff and a 60-65 career record. Correia didn't dominate, but he took the ball 31 times while anchoring the majors' worst rotation.

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For the third straight season, he lowered his earned-run average while increasing his innings total.

THREE DECISIONS THAT DIDN'T

1. Rushing Aaron Hicks: When the Twins traded center fielders Denard Span and Ben Revere for young pitching last offseason, they did so believing Hicks could make the jump from Double-A to the majors. Fooled by Hicks' strong spring, the Twins watched in horror as the former first-round draft pick opened his big-league career by going 2 for 48 (.042). He never fully recovered and was shipped to Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 1. It remains to be seen whether Hicks, 24, can recover from what Ryan now openly classifies as a miscalculation.

2. Signing Mike Pelfrey: It wasn't so much the $4.1 million they ended up paying him for one season of disappointing work (5-13, 5.19 ERA, 5.26 innings per start). It was failing to secure a team option for 2014 as he worked back from Tommy John surgery. Now the pitching-starved Twins must decide how aggressively to pursue a healthy Pelfrey on the free-agent market, even as he openly says he would like to return.

3. Failing to re-sign Francisco Liriano: Maybe the enigmatic lefty wouldn't have been able to reclaim his command after two frustrating seasons. Still, considering the career year (16-8, 3.02) he has enjoyed in Pittsburgh this season, failing to keep a starter in his prime with this kind of repertoire is hard to accept.

JURY'S STILL OUT

1. Extending Ron Gardenhire: Coming off the worst three-year period in Twins baseball history, no one on the outside would have faulted Ryan for firing the manager. Instead, he chose to go against the grain and extend his contract for two years. Gardenhire, the GM determined, has proven he knows how to win when given a competitive roster.

2. Signing Josh Willingham to replace Michael Cuddyer: A year ago, this looked like a stroke of genius, with Willingham (three years, $21 million) coming off a career-best, 35-homer season and Cuddyer (three years, $31.5 million) struggling with injuries in Colorado. But the script flipped in 2013: Cuddyer won the NL batting title and made the all-star team for the second time in three years while Willingham had midseason surgery on his left knee and hobbled to a career-low 98 OPS plus (park adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage). Cuddyer's vocal leadership also was missed in the clubhouse.

3. Drafting Kohl Stewart: After three college stars went with the top three picks in the 2013 draft, the Twins again reached into the high school ranks, this time for an 18-year-old right-hander from the Houston area with a 95-mph fastball. Stewart was limited to 20 combined innings this summer in the Gulf Coast and Appalachian leagues, but his 6/1 strikeout/walk ratio did nothing to lower expectations moving forward. Neither did his $4.544 million signing bonus.